In today’s increasingly fast-paced and competitive world, strength athletes tend to lose track of conditioning, solely focusing on weight training and recovery efforts. Scared of losing body weight, many athletes believe the false notion that conditioning actually harms strength and recovery. However, conditioning is the backbone of strength training and allows athletes to workout longer, lift more weight and recover faster. Of course like with most training, you don’t want to push condition training over the edge.

Proper conditioning can actually add a significant advantage to the performance of powerlifters. The main problem with powerlifting workouts is that they generally require exercises with low reps which aren’t sufficient for conditioning. You build strength through such powerlifting exercises, but suffer in areas such as cardio and endurance.

In order to improve your conditioning and overall performance, consider adding one or more of the following conditioning exercises into to your strength training program.

Fast Paced Walks

Taking fast paced walks is a good way to condition without dropping much bodyweight. Fast walks are also a lot easier on your joints compared to other cardio exercises. The idea of walking for conditioning includes moving at a fast enough pace that you increase your heart rate over an extended period of time. Taking a leisurely stroll through the park is not sufficient. You can do your walking either inside on a treadmill or outside as long as you get your heart rate up high enough. Make sure that you are challenging yourself by either briskly walking along uneven terrain outside or by using difficulty adjustments on a treadmill. If you’re not used to conditioning, start with a 30 minute walk 2-3 times a week and increase the time, distance and frequency as you progress.

Bicycling

Riding a bicycle is another good form of condition training which provides good cardiovascular results with little impact and joint stress. Again, the idea is to push yourself hard enough to raise your heart rate for a prolonged period of time (at least 20 minutes). Like walking, cycling can be achieved either indoors or outdoors, on a stationary or regular bike. Thanks to nice scenery and fresh air, many find riding a bicycle outdoors helps to reduce stress and makes it easier to work longer. Of course, you may also choose to ride a stationary bicycle indoors but, as with walking, you should vary the speed and difficulty levels in order to best benefit from the condition training.

Weight Pulls

Pulling a weighted sled or other weighted object is not only a good conditioning method, but it is also one of the more popular types of training in the powerlifting arena. This is because weight pulling significantly builds leg strength and simultaneously increases endurance.. You can purchase, borrow or build a sled for sled pulls. If you are limited in resources, then you can simply tie a rope around an appropriate weighted object for weight pulling. Head to an open field or space and pull the weight around for 10-15 minutes. You can do this either on your off days of training or you can combine it with other condition training exercises. Just be sure to monitor your gym performance so that it doesn’t suffer from too much condition training. If you see a drop in gym performance, lighten up on the conditioning.

Uphill Sprint

When you’re ready to take conditioning to the next level, hill sprints will provide a greater cardiovascular workout as well as build strength and endurance. The main strength gain is in your legs which is a key element for powerlifting. Therefore, by doing uphill sprints, you will be able to handle more weight when strength training at the gym. To perform this conditioning exercise, simply locate a hill or ramp and run up it. Keep the distances short (around 10-15 yards) and push as hard as you can. Walk back down the hill or ramp as your rest period and repeat until your leg muscles are burning. Do not run down hill as it can overstress your knee and ankle joints, causing weakness or injury. Uphill sprints are great for training when you’re ready to move to more advanced conditioning exercises.